In known cable-tying tools, a series of movements has to be carried out in a controlled sequence during an operating cycle, most of which movements are over a short path, so that they can be derived, for example, from one rotation of one or more cam discs. This includes the closing of the tongs, into which the tape is guided in order to wrap around the article to be tied; the insertion of the free end of the tape into the closure located at the rear end of the tape; the cutting off of the projecting end of the tape; the opening of the wrapping tongs (EP-A 428 116). In contrast to this, the pushing forward of the tape, with simultaneous wrapping around the tool, is a long-stroke operation which cannot easily be derived from a partial circumference of a cam disc. Known tools (DE-C 40 35 968, DE-U 92 14 901, DE-U 89 13 511) therefore use a separate drive for this, which is complicated.